Josefina's survivors filed suit against FPA owner Edward Campbell Allred, and 5 other doctors: Kenneth Wright, Leslie S. Orleans, Earl Baxter, Soon Sohn, and Thomas Grubbs.
The family said that staff failed to determine that Josefina had an ectopic pregnancy before proceeding with a routine safe and legal abortion procedure by D&C on May 23, 1985.
Edward Allred
After her abortion, Josefina was left unattended in a recovery room, where she hemorrhaged. She died the day of her abortion.
Her death certificate notes "acute bronchopneumonia due to anoxic encephalopathy following cardiopulmonary arrest due to ruptured tubal gestation with hemorrhage" as the cause of Josefina's death. Mention is made elsewhere on the death certificate of "status post uterine suction curettage."
Though in theory women who choose abortion should be less likely to die from ectopic pregnancy than women who intend to carry to term, they are actually more likely to die because sloppy practices lead them to believe that they had normal uterine pregnancies that were terminated. Thus, they ignore symptoms that would ordinarily lead them to seek prompt, life-saving medical care.
Regardless of whether or not abortion is legal, an ectopic pregnancy is something any abortionist should have diagnosed, if not before the abortion, then certainly after the abortion was completed and there were not pieces of fetus removed. Either way, there was little excuse for failing to detect the ectopic pregnancy. Whether Josefina lived or died would have depended on the state of medicine at the time, and the ordinary skills of doctors who were not abortionists.
Because the abortion is noted only as a suction curettage, and is mentioned in a supplementary box rather than in the cause of death box on the death certificate, a data run on California death certificates did not identify Josefina as an abortion death.
Documents indicate that Josefina Garcia, age 37, mother of 2, died after abortion at a Family Planning Associates Medical Group (FPA) facility.
Josefina's survivors filed suit against FPA owner Edward Campbell Allred, and 5 other doctors: Kenneth Wright, Leslie S. Orleans, Earl Baxter, Soon Sohn, and Thomas Grubbs.
The family said that staff failed to determine that Josefina had an ectopic pregnancy before proceeding with a routine safe and legal abortion procedure by D&C on May 23, 1985.
Her death certificate notes "acute bronchopneumonia due to anoxic encephalopathy following cardiopulmonary arrest due to ruptured tubal gestation with hemorrhage" as the cause of Josefina's death. Mention is made elsewhere on the death certificate of "status post uterine suction curettage."
Though in theory women who choose abortion should be less likely to die from ectopic pregnancy than women who intend to carry to term, they are actually more likely to die because sloppy practices lead them to believe that they had normal uterine pregnancies that were terminated. Thus, they ignore symptoms that would ordinarily lead them to seek prompt, life-saving medical care.
Regardless of whether or not abortion is legal, an ectopic pregnancy is something any abortionist should have diagnosed, if not before the abortion, then certainly after the abortion was completed and there were not pieces of fetus removed. Either way, there was little excuse for failing to detect the ectopic pregnancy. Whether Josefina lived or died would have depended on the state of medicine at the time, and the ordinary skills of doctors who were not abortionists.
Josefina is one of many women to die at this NAF facility after the National Abortion Federation was founded.
Other women known to have died after abortion at Allred's facilities include
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Sources: Press-Telegram 4-25-88; California Death Certificate No. 85-106566